After six years, China’s biggest internet search engine closes the Egypt headquarters it hoped to use as a Mideast springboard

Chinese internet search giant Baidu is retrenching from an Egyptian market from where it had hoped to expand in the Middle East, said people familiar with the matter, following a six-year effort to challenge its American rivals.

In recent months, the company has gradually laid off its more than 30 employees and closed its Cairo office after the business didn’t meet its targets, said these people, who are several former employees and a regional technology executive with knowledge of Baidu’s business.